Mrs. Lester’s Students Respond to YA Novels!

For the last two weeks, the Unquiet Library has been working with Mrs. Lester’s 10th grade English students to select young adult literature novels that relate to issues and challenges facing today’s teenagers.  In this post, you can read their feedback on the novels they selected and read…we have been thrilled to see many of these students visiting us to sneak in some extra reading time!

Take a look at what Mrs. Lester’s 10th graders have to say about their YA novels! 

A New “Golden Age” in Teen Reading?

According to an article published in the March 7 edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, we are in the midst of a revival of teen reading.    According to Booklist magazine critic Michael Cart, a leading expert on young adult literature, “Kids are buying books in quantities we’ve never seen before.  And publishers are courting young adults in ways we haven’t seen since the 1940s.”  Other experts in the field cite the growing quantity and quality of young adult literature as a primary reason why book sales in the 12-18 age market have jumped in recent years.   Other YA literature authorities cite the growing body of YA lit that is more sophisticated in theme and content as a major reason for the increase in book sales.

Popular genres include graphic novels, fantasy, mystery, romance, and gritty “coming of age” stories.  Librarian Holly Koelling, who tracks these trends in an upcoming edition of Best Books for Young Adults, an American Library Association reference book, observes, “There has been an increase in the age of the protagonist, the complexity of the plotting and the content — the gravity of the content.  I think it may be a reflection of a more sophisticated teenage population.”

Take a few minutes to read the article.  What do you think?  Are you buying more books?  Why or why  not?  Whether you are buying or checking out books from the library, what genres and themes do you think are hot with teen readers right now?   Do you see this trend of book buying and more reading in your circle of friends and community?

New: 2007-2008 Peach Book Nominees!

The purpose of the Georgia Peach Award is to highlight and promote the best current young adult literature for
Georgia high school age students, to encourage young adults to read and to promote the development of cooperative school and public library services for young adults.  The new list of 2007-08 nominees is out!  Nominees for the upcoming year include:

• As Simple As Snow by Gregory Galloway
• Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis
• What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles
• Code Orange by Caroline Cooney 
• Dead Connection by Charlie Price
• Everlost by Neal Shusterman
• I’d Tell You But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
• My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
• Peeps by Scott Westerfeld
• Runaways, Volume 1 by Brian Vaughan
• Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• The Goodness Gene by Sonia Levitin
• The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
• The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
• The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• Raiders Night by Robert Cormier

We already have most of these books, and those of you who are regulars in the library can attest that this year’s list is chock full of must-reads!  We have a special display set up with these books, so come on by and check out the nominees!   If you want to participate in the state Peach Book blog, visit http://gpban.blogspot.com/ and give your feedback!